Bibliography
| Title: Origen's Contra Celsum and Josephus' Contra Apionem. The Issue of Jewish Origins Secondary Title: VigChr Volume: 44 Pages: 105-135 Type: Journal Article Year: 1990 Abstract: "Origen needed to defend Judaism in order to establish the credibility of Christianity; to do so he made use of Josephus' arguments in C for the antiquity and wisdom of Moses and the Jews".
"In Contra Celsum Origen had to do what Josephus did in Contra Apionem, namely, defend the Judaism so crucial to Christianity's credibility. Toward that end Origen found Josephus' treatise useful in establishing the antiquity and wisdom of the Jews and of Moses, and in defending the Jews against various charges. When Origen departed from Josephus, he did so for purposes of argumentation". - D.J.H.
""Origen's dilemma was that the only way that he could establish Christianity's legitimacy was to give it a historical basis by demonstrating continuity with Judaism; and yet, the raison d'être of Christianity was, paradoxically, its break with Judaism". In this light the author compares Origen's Contra Celsum with Josephus' Contra Apionem, where many of the same topics are discussed".
"Manetho and his successors, as summarized in Josephus' C. Apionem, had charged Moses with being a rebel, a perverter of traditional Egyptian religion and customs; similarly, Celsus alleged, Jesus was a rebel, a perverter of traditional Jewish religion and customs. By maximising the common heritage and beliefs of Judaism and Christianity and by minimizing the issues that separated them, Origen sought to blunt these attacks. Toward this end, Origen found Josephus' C. Apionem useful, particularly in establishing the antiquity and wisdom of the Jews and of Moses". Keywords: Contra Apionem |